Canton Local faces $43 million bond issue

The Canton Local Schools community will be asked to approve a $43 million bond issue March 6.

Lisa Reicosky

The Canton Local Schools community will be asked to approve a $43 million bond issue March 6.

If passed by voters, the district will construct a new high school and expand the middle school to create a middle school/elementary school campus.

The plan comes after months of community input from staff, students, parents, and local business leaders.

Superintendent Kim Redmond said that ownership is what will make this drive successful.

“I’m confident that the community will support the plan that it developed. If it does not pass, it means we missed something they wanted us to hear,” she said. “I don’t know how that could have happened, given that the community essentially drew this plan as their own.”

Redmond said she has seen a groundswell of support.

“Our Canton South community has taken ownership of this plan. If it doesn’t pass, we will wait and see, but we’ll need the folks here to support us if we’re going to replace these deteriorating buildings,” she said.

If approved, the bond issue would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $255 a year.

Under the plan, Canton Local officials would construct a two-story high school just west of Canton South High School in the 600 block of Faircrest Street SE.

Walker Elementary would close, and the district administrative offices would move to the new high school.

Construction would start tentatively in spring of 2013. It would open for the fall of 2015.

The new high school would be about 177,000 square feet. The current high school is about 195,000 square feet, according to an information packet issued by the district.

Another part of the plan calls for adding about 68,000 square feet to Faircrest Middle School in the 600 block of Faircrest Street SW. The addition would become the new middle school and Faircrest would be converted into an elementary school.

The district considered a plan to use state money for construction, but, after researching the issue, community members at a planning meeting decided not to do so.

Reasons cited by Redmond were that in using state money, the district would have less say in the project and would not get a separate auditorium. It would also cost citizens more — over 10 mills, according to the district’s website.

Voters can visit www.cantonlocal.org and click on Master Facilities Plan for more information and a video presentation.

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